Power of the Supreme Court of India to decide the dispute between Centre and State falls under :

The power of the Supreme Court of India to decide disputes between the Centre and one or more States falls under its original jurisdiction. According to Article 131 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has exclusive original jurisdiction to hear and determine disputes involving legal rights between the Government of India and any State, or between two or more States [4]. This jurisdiction is termed 'original' because the Supreme Court is the first and only court empowered to deal with such federal matters directly, without the case passing through lower courts [2]. This role establishes the Supreme Court as an umpire in the quasi-federal structure of India, ensuring the resolution of legislative, administrative, or financial conflicts between different levels of government [4]. Other jurisdictions like advisory (Article 143) and appellate (Articles 132-136) serve different functions, such as providing legal opinions to the President or hearing appeals from High Courts [4].

Sources

1. [1] Indian Constitution at Work, Political Science Class XI (NCERT 2025 ed.) > Chapter 6: JUDICIARY > Original Jurisdiction > p. 132
2. [3] https://legalaffairs.gov.in/sites/default/files/Constitutional%20Mechanism%20for%20the%20settlement%20of%20Inter-State%20Disputes.pdf
3. [4] https://www.sci.gov.in/jurisdiction/
4. [2] https://ili.ac.in/pdf/st.pdf